Pandemic not an Excuse for Non-Inclusion of Petroleum Products under GST: Kerala High Court to Centre [Read Order]

Kerala High Court - Petrol - Diesel - GST - Petroleum Products - Taxscan

The Kerala High Court while showing discontent to the Centre said that the Pandemic is not an excuse for the Non-Inclusion of Petroleum products under GST.

The petitioner, Kerala Pradesh Gandhi Darshanvedhi contended that the non-inclusion of petrol and diesel under the GST regime is violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.

The counsel for the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBDT), PR Sreejith handed over a copy of the letter from the Director of GST Council to submit that petroleum

Once the representation submitted by the petitioner was considered by the GST council at its 45th meeting, it decided that it is not appropriate to include petrol and diesel within the ambit of GST at this stage. This was then vehemently opposed by the petitioner who once again moved the Court by way of the present plea.

After perusing the statement filed on behalf of the Director of Goods and Services Tax Council, the bench observed, “Even though the matter was taken in the 45th GST Council meeting, three issues seemed to have been considered by the Council for bringing the petroleum products under the GST regime, i.e., (i) the matter involves high revenue implications, (ii) requires larger deliberations and (iii) during pandemic times, it would be difficult to bring petroleum products under the GST regime.”

The court observed, “We are not satisfied with the reasons. There should be some discussion and genuine reasons as to why petroleum products cannot be brought under the GST regime. Further, the pandemic period cannot be cited as a reason. It is well known that even during the pandemic, several decisions were taken involving revenue, after deliberations.”

The Court made the observation while hearing a PIL filed through Advocate Arun B Varghese, which stated that the recent hike in petrol and diesel prices has wreaked havoc, on general economic stability and the lives of the common man, especially those from lower-income households.

Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the Judgment

Support our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan AdFree. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates.

taxscan-loader